Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas) Page: 56

MT. ZION SCHOOL DISTRICT
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We remember two Bosque County schools
located east of Hico. One was the County Line
School District on the old Iredell Highway 6;
the other one was Mt. Zion District 196. Mt.
Zion and the surrounding community was
called "Big Eye" and was located near
Langston Crossing on the Bosque River. In
order for children to get across the river to go
to school, a suspension bridge was built. Both
Mt. Zion and County Line schools closed in
1935.
As enrollment decreased in the two schools,
the County Line School sent their children to
Big Eye for a year or so; however, this didn't
work well because of the distance. It was then
decided to move the Big Eye school building
to the north side of Highway 6 onto three
acres of land donated by Roy Adkison. Even
so, this plan failed and County Line consoli-
dated with Hico, and Mt. Zion consolidated
with Iredell. The Mt. Zion school building
became a church in the Hico area.
The Mt. Zion area has an interesting
history in several respects. About 25 years ago
dinosaur tracks were found in the Bosque
River bed near the Langston Crossing. This
discovery created excitement because it was
believed that dinosaur tracks were only
existent in Glen Rose of Somevell County.
In the mid-1850's, pioneers moved in and
began to settle along the Bosque River. There
was plenty of tall grass and enough water for
cattle raising. There were no fences then, just
open range. Some of these early settlers were
the Malones, Barbees, and Medfords.
Zack Medford and his sons had 250 head
of cattle and many horses. The peace of the
valley disappeared as Indian raids increased.
They killed the settlers and stole the horses.
Buck Barry organized the Rangers to fight
this menace. As raids continued, Barry
organized the ranchers to help. Zack Medford
and two of his sons went on every scouting
trip until it became necessary to stay on their
land to do neglected work. But the sons later
joined the group and helped to kill some of
the Indians. These raids continued into the
1860's.
During the Civil War, Izella Medford, wife
of Stephen Hill Medford and daughter-in-
law of Zack Medford, lived alone with a small
daughter and a black servant girl. During her
husband's absence, they had numbers of
frightening experiences with Indians.
After the end of the Civil War, Indian raids
were less frequent and population increased.
It was during this period that schools began
to be built and education developed. The
schools had seven or eight grades, and
emphasis was on teaching the basics-reading,
writing, arithmetic.
Some of the families who had children of
school age in the 1900-1935 period were the
Malones, Webbs, Langstons, Wheelers,
Coles, Stringers, Rosses, Bales, and Crists.

PIKESVILLE

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Pikesville was founded after the Civil War.
Capt. John Pike and his wife, along with four
daughters and five sons, came from Alabama
and settled between Iredell and Meridian.
This was the beginning of the community
which came to be called Pikesville.
The Pike family became ranchers and
farmers. After the death of Capt. John Pike,
his son, Daniel (Uncle Dan), took over the
ranch. In the 1920's, he built a museum,
grocery store, and gas station near the large
white house where he resided. Several other
houses were near the large one. The Pike
business was operated for several years.
After Dan's death, the village began to fade
away. State Highway 6 was rerouted through
the crop land. In 1977 the large white house
burned, ending an era. Jim Wheeles owned
the place when the house burned.
The ranch is now owned by the Buxton
family. It provides a scenic ranch view from
Highway 6. Pikesville is no longer open to the
public, yet it is a vivid memory for some. This
information submitted by Geraldine Bakke
is drawn from research done by Vinita
Blakely. For information on the Pike family,
see Pike family stories in that section of this
book.
by Geraldine Bakke

by Melba Clark and Ila Smith
mon owMa

56

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